


A Five-Bet Winning Streak (and how it ended)

by thayde



Category: Original Work
Genre: 5+1, A/B/O, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Courting Rituals, Jealousy, M/M, Pining, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16109384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thayde/pseuds/thayde
Summary: Five bets Calvin was relieved to win, and one he was happy to lose.





	A Five-Bet Winning Streak (and how it ended)

**Bet #1**

They met in high school.

Calvin was the new kid on the block, and none of the alphas in his class had sniffed him out yet; they were circling, though. To be fair, so were the betas and omegas, but their interest was innocent curiosity—it was about knowing. Alphas, on the other hand, loved the _chase_.

Every student in his year held their breath and waited for an indication of which dynamic Calvin belonged to. _How_ tragic _it is they’ll never know_. The thought brought him no small amount of smug glee.

_No scent_ , they all said on his first day, _must be a beta_. But not three days later, Amy Tanswick told Sarah Galt, who told Andrea Tam (cheerleader Andrea T., not goth Andrea T. who smoked out behind the shed), who in turn told her boyfriend Tony Gusling, who happened to be the little brother of the football quarterback, that New-Kid Calvin was _seen_ taking a familiar little purple pill during lunch. By day four, the rumors of him taking suppressants had spread like wildfire.

_If not a beta_ , they all said by the end of the week, _then he must be an alpha_. It was an understandable assumption, as Calvin took care to walk tall with shoulders back and his head held high. He met people’s eyes and refused to look away first. So much eye contact unnerved omegas and most betas, but the alphas recognized it as a challenge. Ignoring the chest-thumping, Clavin just strolled on by, hands nonchalantly tucked in his pockets.

On week two, he joined the drama club, and, suddenly, the whispers turned towards _omega_. Another week passed without Calvin so much as batting an eye at the alphas’ flirting, the bitch commentary, or the omegas’ attempts to bond with him, and the school opinion split into three camps.

Week three, and the betting pool was utterly saturated with speculation about his dynamic. They couldn’t stand not knowing.

It had been same at Calvin’s last four schools, too. While amusing, the constant scrutiny could be truly grating, which is why he’d been wandering behind the school gym in the first place. To find some peace and quiet. What he got instead was some jackass alpha harassing another alpha.

Why it hadn’t devolved into bloodshed yet, Calvin couldn’t say. Two alphas locking horns always brought out the performers in them, regardless of who they were, but not the blonde one. Not _that_ one. No, the blonde guy seemed entirely uninterested in fighting, though he didn’t just roll over for the jock. He deviated from the well-known pattern so drastically that Calvin felt inclined to step in. Besides, how terribly cliche it was for a member of the football team to bully the shy ones.

“Excuse me”, Calvin called out, “but what are you doing?” He strode purposely towards the pair until he stood a few feet before them both.

The jock looked up and sneered. “Keep walking, new kid.”

Before Calvin could respond, the blonde shook his head. “Get out of here, man. You’ll just get hurt—” His attacker shook him by the collar of his jacket.

“Shut your mouth. And you”, the jock looked back to Calvin, “better listen to him. You might walk like an alpha and _stink_ like a beta, but I know your kind. I have good money riding on the chance that you’re an omega. Get lost before I go out of my way to prove it.”

Raising an eyebrow, Calvin smiled and forcefully jabbed his middle and pointer finger into the hollow of the jock’s throat. The alpha dropped to the ground like a stone, gagging and coughing.

The blonde stumbled to the ground from the sudden release. “Holy shit.”

Offering his hand, “I’m Calvin.”

“Seth.” He took the proffered help and was pulled to his feet.

Now that _Seth_ was actually standing before him, the blonde seemed a bit tame for Calvin’s tastes, but perhaps in time—

Seth turned and kicked the alpha on the ground between the legs, eliciting a comical shriek from his tormentor.

Calvin blinked, nonplussed.

Once Seth was facing Calvin again, he dug something out of his pocket. “Listen, thanks for the help, but you should probably know that I bet on you too.”

Tensing, Calvin eyed the blonde’s closed hand suspiciously. “Did you win, at least?”

“Hell no!” He laughed. “I put money on you being a ‘normal beta’.” Seth smiled and slipped a dollar bill into Calvin’s palm. “I don’t know what you are, man, but you’re _anything_ but normal.”

Calvin’s eyebrows shot up, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “…I guess you’re okay. Wanna hang out?”

They were inseparable after that.

He wouldn’t tell Seth what he was for many years, and Seth never asked—Calvin loved him for it.

 

**Bet #2**

Calvin received suppressants unusually young—the tail end of middle school—but his divorced father who kept uprooting him place to place liked to try and buy his love. The suppressants were the first gift that actually purchased Calvin’s regard, and then the move to a new town, a new school, a clean slate…it was an indescribable relief to escape that little box marked _omega_.

Once he’d befriended Seth, who put such little stock in dynamics beyond mating arrangements, Calvin didn’t need anyone else. Calvin was free to be _Calvin_ for the first time. He never looked back.

They stuck together through high school and then again through college; both engineering majors, both graduating, and both finally twenty one.

Vegas seemed like the only way to celebrate.

It was an eight hour drive, so they made a road trip out of it; snacks, soda, shoeless, and both dressed in their science pajamas the whole way (the same p.j.s worn every Sunday, or “Waffle Day” as their dorm had dubbed it). They checked into a hotel they’d no intention of spending any time in and were immediately off to the gambling floor for the next three days.

The slots were boring, Calvin decided, providing the kind of enjoyment an addict gets from chasing that first perfect high. An hour in and he’d dragged Seth to the explore the human-run games. There was _literally_ no way to strategize in roulette, so, naturally, Calvin hated it while Seth, with his streak of recklessness, has the time of his life. Same with craps and wheel spins. Blackjack was more Calvin’s speed—Seth could take it or leave it—and thus, while Calvin tapped his cards for a hit and waved his hand to stay, he bought Seth drink after drink from the scantily clad omegas and betas wandering around.

“I don’t sh—see any alphas dressed up like bunnies.” Seth slurred.

Calvin shrugged. “I guess—”

“They’re at the Bellagio, honey, or the Chip’n’Dale show down the street.” A woman in a pretty blue dress a couple seats over smiled at Seth from beneath her eyelashes. Alpha.

Seth grinned happily at her. “Hey, thanks! Not really looking for that though. I was jush—just curious.”

Her arched brows twitched in slight confusion, and Calvin smirked at her. Clearly she’d mistaken Seth as an omega, and if her avoiding his stare was any indication, she believed Calvin to be a fellow alpha. _Classic_.

Calvin pointedly placed a hand on Seth’s shoulder, and the woman excused herself from the blackjack table at the end of the round. Her departure, of course, cued Seth’s favorite drunk topic: his love life, or more accurately, his lack of one.

“Why can’t I find an _omega_ like that?”

Tapping his cards, Calvin waited for the dealer to throw another card his way. “Like what?” He asked absently. _Fifteen_ , Calvin contemplated grumpily, _to hit or not to hit, that is the question_.

“Like that alpha!” Seth wails. “Why can’t the omega be so self-a-ass… _assured_? They always need constant affirmation and proof that you’d, you know, fight to keep ‘em.” He looked up at Calvin with forlorn eyes, as though he’d just learned the world would end in the morning. “Why can’t the omegas fight over the alphas, for a change?”

“Hmmm.” Calvin was a gambler at heart, so he tapped his cards again.

Tipping his drink back, Seth frowned at the empty glass and held it out to Calvin. He pulled out the puppy eyes until Calvin flagged down the nearest “showgirl” and placed another drink order.

“I mean, it’s easy for you—you’re, like, the original alpha archetype, except not a douchebag caveman—more like the gentleman rogue—but me? I’m just not like that. I’m too shy. Where’re the omegas who—who’re, well, more like _you_?”

That’s when it hit Calvin like a ton of bricks: Seth thought he was an alpha. Years on suppressants, true, and they’d never discussed it since the day they’d met…but it was very rare for alphas to take suppressants, so Calvin had always assumed Seth had figured it out.

The world seemed to have shifted on it’s axis, so much so that Calvin didn’t bat an eye when he exceeded twenty one and lost the last of his chips. Seth wanted an omega _just like Calvin_ —the irony in that was almost painful. In Seth’s buzzed mind, “Alpha” Calvin was the ideal mate, _if only_ he was an omega.

Fighting down a hysterical laugh, Calvin clapped his friend on the shoulder. “You’ll find them, man, probably when you stop looking.” _Perhaps_ , Clavin thought, _it’s just as well Seth doesn’t know_.

The corseted omega returned with her tray full of drinks. She sat one in front of Seth and then offered Calvin a rum and coke with a demure, flirty look. He shook his head, smiling apologetically, and the omega wandered off with a final wistful look.

“What’d I tell ya? Gentleman rogue alpha from a soap opera. Wanna go after her?”

Calvin snorted. “She’s not my type.” And wasn’t that the truth? “Besides, you’re three sheets to the wind, my friend. I’m keeping my eye on you.” Getting up from his stool, Calvin pulled Seth to his feet and snaked a steadying arm around his shoulder.

Seth was warm pressed against his side.

_Where’re the omegas who—who’re, well, more like you_? Seth’s words returned unbidden to Calvin’s mind, and he did his best to shake them off. “Where to now? It’s your turn to choose.”

“What abou—”

A shattering of glass interrupted the ambient noise, and shouting soon followed. Seth and Calvin turned around and saw a pair of alphas—male and female—facing off, lips pulled back in twin snarls.

“He prefers _me_!” The man flung his arm to the side, wildly gesturing to a slim omega wringing his hands on the sidelines. Only with great effort did Calvin resist rolling his eyes. How anyone—omega or otherwise—could be so passive in choosing a mate was well beyond his understanding.

“Liar! Bow out with some dignity while you still can!” The woman growled.

The back and forth went on for a couple minutes while a ring of onlookers formed around the arguing pair, and the stench of alpha aggression thickened the air while cutting rejoinders devolved into threats and base insults. And, inevitably…

“I _challenge you_ for mating rights!”

…the first punch was thrown.

“Holy shit.” Seth murmured.

Calvin could only nod, eyes glued to the dominance display. “Yep.”

Mating fights were just so much more _vicious_ when a female alpha was involved. The woman went for the eyes and groin of her opponent, and she’d clearly sharpened her nails—blood was pouring down the male’s left cheek where she’d managed to gouge his flesh.

“A dollar says the lady wins.” Seth commented idly, leaning hot and heavy against Calvin’s entire side.

Calvin scoffed. “Please, the only winner in these things is the omega, so—”

The man managed to uppercut the woman’s chin, and the crowd collectively yelped in sympathetic pain. Fist hitting flesh could be heard even above the voices.

“—I’ll take that action.” Calvin switched tracks quickly, and he shook hands with Seth to seal the deal. “When in Rome, right? Or, well, Vegas anyway.”

The fight only lasted about five minutes, and while the woman was quick and willing to play dirty, the male just had too much staying power. Eventually, he got her on her knees and finished her off with a brutal right hook to the temple, a sharp cracking sound emanating from her neck. How unlucky for the woman to challenge such a traditional alpha—even death was fair game in a mating dispute.

Grinning, Calvin made a grabbing motion with his free hand while the crowd slowly dispersed.

Seth clumsily fished a dollar bill from his pocket and slapped it onto Calvin’s waiting palm. “Shut up. Is there an aquarium around here? I want to see some fish!”

Laughing, Calvin led Seth towards the entrance, ignoring the cleaning crew rushing to lift the body into a biohazard bag. Nothing new or interesting about that.

 

**Bet #3**

They took jobs at the same engineering firm, because why not? They’d gotten along in life pretty well by sticking together, and if it ain’t broke…

Same department, same project, same shared apartment, even. The two of them lived in each other’s pockets, which suited Calvin just fine. He had dreaded graduation, fearing it would herald a parting of ways, but things had worked out to his benefit. He’d always been a lucky bastard.

That is, until Priya arrived.

She was an omega hired on as the head of their department at the same time they were brought on. At first, Calvin was fairly stoked to have such a cool boss—casual Fridays, free coffee and donuts every morning, and an ongoing office-supply siege weapon competition were just a few positive aspects of the departmental culture. She sometimes micromanaged, but she was competent, and Calvin couldn’t really ask for more than that at the entry level.

And then Seth’s reckless streak—something Calvin usually delighted in—made an appearance, and he asked her out on a date. And Priya said _yes_.

Priya said yes, and Calvin suddenly realized what an idiot he’d been. Also, he realized what an idiot Seth was, as the danger in the situation could be seen from miles away. An omega she might have been, but Priya acted as alpha-esque as was within the bounds of good taste—and alphas could literally get away with murder.

At first, Calvin figured he’d wait it out. Surely Seth wouldn’t settle down with the first aggressive omega to take an interest in him? But after a couple weeks without a fade on the “honeymoon phase”, he changed tactics.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? The whole ‘Priya thing’, I mean.” he asked nonchalantly. Saturday morning found them both seated on the couch, catching up on that week’s recorded soap opera episodes. If Calvin had shifted around until his thigh pressed against Seth’s own, neither of them mentioned it.

Seth huffed. “By ‘Priya thing’ you mean my girlfriend? This again?”

Calvin held back the instinctual sneer. “Yeah, that.” He quickly pointed at the television screen. “Oh, bet you a dollar that the gardner’s illegitimate son totally butchered the family’s dog!”

“Hell no, I know better than to bet against you.” Seth laughed. “But Priya, she’s pretty great. You know she meets me halfway? I mean, she invites me to dinner as often as I ask her out. She doesn’t expect me to fawn all over her, or…you already know all this.” He waved his arm vaguely. “I’ve only bitched about it since high school.”

“What if it all goes south? She’s your _boss_ , man. How awkward is that gonna be?”

Seth pursed his lips. “Look, it’s already done. Besides, I don’t think we’ll break up anytime soon, so what’s it matter?”

“Well…” Calvin drawled, “it may be better to dump her sooner than later. Damage control.”

An exasperated sigh rushed from Seth’s lungs.“Why should I dump her? You keep…oh my God, is that why you keep bringing this up?” Eyes wide, Seth’s head snake around to glare at Calvin. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Seth bites out, spitefully. “She’s amazing, and you want her for yourself. You can’t stand that she’s interested in _me_.”

Seth’s words weren’t very shocking, but Calvin’s own reaction to them _was_. An aggressive yes ricocheted throughout his being, but not for the reason Seth so clearly believed. His shocked silence, however, was taken as damning evidence.

Springing up from the couch, Seth stood before Calvin, hands clenched into fists on his hips. “You can’t even deny it, can you?”

Opening his mouth, Calvin struggled to form words and assemble them into some clever runaround, but he couldn’t seem to manage it. Calvin could admit to himself that the relationship might be good for Seth, if rather begrudgingly; she was just what Seth wanted, really. She was exactly like Calvin, minus the suppressants.

_It isn’t jealously_ , he denied to himself when sleep was evasive, and yet…

Lately, when it was late at night or if Seth smiled in that particular way, he remembered Seth’s words from their Vegas road trip, and wondered.

The silence went on too long for Seth, and his patience wore out. “She’d never look at _you_. She likes me, and what do you have to offer her? You’re just another schmuck too afraid to stop taking suppressants!”

Those words hit him like a punch to the chest, and something ugly and vengeful reared its head inside. “You’re just her type.” Calvin spat. “I bet you _anything_ it ends horribly.”

It took a year, but Calvin won that bet; his victory was bitter to the core.

 

**Bet #4**

By unspoken agreement, neither Seth nor Calvin spoke about relationships—Seth’s relationship with Priya, specifically. They fell into a precarious peace that threatened to overturn at a wrong word or a pointed glance that happened to linger too long. Conversation was restricted to work, weather, and the state of the traffic. On a good day, they might stray into guilty pleasure territory, namely, their tacky soap opera viewing habits…and that was it.

Calvin’s emotions yo-yo’d from indignation (who the hell let an omega come between a friendship as close as theirs) and loneliness. For years, Seth had been his primary source of socialization. Seth was his emotional outlet, the only trustworthy sympathetic ear, his soundboard, the high point of every day…the brightest spot on his horizon.

When all of that was suddenly stripped away, Calvin was left with a Seth-shaped hole in his life. It was like having the rug pulled out from under him, or missing that last step; Atlas had fucking shrugged Calvin’s world from his shoulders to watch it smash.

And wasn’t that telling?

Calvin couldn’t lie to himself anymore—Seth had unwittingly torn down every illusion of platonic affection Calvin had ever built, and all by simply withholding himself.

He spent days, weeks, a _month_ quietly burning with anger, and he’d convinced himself it was because Seth had put a crush ahead of their friendship. Another lie, of course, exposed whenever Seth laughed at one of Priya’s jokes, or when they’d tangle their fingers together gently, and especially when Seth showed up to work stinking of _her_ while still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

Seth didn’t always return home after work, these days. More and more nights were spent away.

With _her_.

So Calvin stewed in his own anger and misery, passive aggression lining what used to be thoughtful acts for his best friend. Once upon a time, he might’ve waited for Seth so they could Netflix-and-chill their trashy soaps together. Nowadays, Calvin just hid the remote in the freezer whenever he wasn’t using it.

Three months into Seth’s relationship and he stopped coming home entirely. Half of Seth’s wardrobe had disappeared from his closet, and Calvin didn’t have to guess at where it’d walked off to. Once the Netflix queue had become backed up with unwatched episodes, he started wondering when Seth would stop bothering to pay rent.

By the time Calvin managed to pull his own head out of his ass, Priya seemed inevitable. _Permanent_. A now immovable fixture in Seth’s life regardless of how badly Calvin might want her to simply disappear.

Month number four was Calvin’s breaking point. Something had to give eventually, and that something was him.

“I’m sorry, _I miss you_ , and I’m happy for you and Priya!” The words fell off Calvin’s tongue before Seth had even sat down in his cubicle. “Will you forgive me?” He added for good measure.

Seth started in surprise for a beat, before a relieved grin blossomed across his face. “Took you long enough, jackass. I’m sorry, too.” Dropping his messenger bag on the floor, he pulled Calvin into a tight embrace. “Another week and I would’ve caught up on our stories without you.”

Calvin let the embrace go on some seconds longer than he normally would, sagging slightly into Seth’s hold. “You wouldn’t _dare_.” He muttered petulantly. “I’d put Nair in your shampoo.”

Just like that, their cold war ended.

Things didn’t go back to how it was, but it was a close thing. The important bit, in Calvin’s opinion, was that Seth came back home. He still slept at Priya’s place more often than not, but he made a point to at least eat dinner with Calvin most week nights. Seth also put in a regular appearances for their Saturday Soap Opera marathons. For all intents and purposes, the friendship had settled back down to its nominal state.

Except.

There was a tension between them now of a different nature entirely, and _entirely unspoken_. Hands and glances lingered. Thighs pressed together warmly on the couch. Smiles curved softer at the corners. Silences, which had previously been easy and empty, were now placeholders for words unsaid and filled with…implication.

Talk about Seth’s relationship was still fragile ground, so Calvin tiptoed around it—he was terrified of endangering the latest step forward. He never asked, only nodded along in interest when his friend volunteered information. Calvin never said a bad word against Priya, and never, ever pried. He didn't even ask after her, since Seth still had it in his mind that Calvin had wanted Priya for himself when this all started. He didn’t bother to correct him. In all honesty, he’d lost that right when he’d spiraled into a jealous snit over Seth looking away from him for a moment.

Much longer than a moment, as it continued to trend, but Calvin pointedly tried not to think about that. Instead, he focused on those new, gentle moments shared between them.

Perhaps that’s why it took him so long to notice something was wrong.

“Priya doesn’t like that I spend so much time over here. She misses eating together as often as we did when…you know. We were fighting.” Seth refused to meet Calvin’s eyes.

“Why don’t you invite her over to dinner with us, then?” The words escaped Calvin’s mouth before he could corral them. He held his breath and focused intently on checking the email on his phone, bracing for the inevitable “no”; readied himself to pretend that it wasn’t a big deal.

“…You know what, yeah. You can finally meet each other outside of work.”

Releasing his breath, Calvin smiled broadly. “It should be good for all of us.”

The dinner was set for Saturday night, and Clavin didn’t think much else about it. At least, not until he noticed Seth’s mood, which continually darkened as the days marched onward towards the weekend.

“Look, if you want to cancel, I’d understand. Maybe it’s too soon—”

“Don’t worry about it, man. Everything will go smoothly.”

Scoffing, Calvin stared Seth down. “I bet you a dollar this dinner goes straight to hell. I’ll win before dessert, too, if your mood keeps nosediving. Cancel while you still can. We can always reschedule.”

“No. You’re important to me. You’re part of my life and she should respect that.”

Seth’s choice of words gave Calvin pause. _Interesting_. Perhaps…Calvin himself wasn't as much of a problem as he’d been thinking. Priya seemed to have contributed her own issues to the already muddy waters.

That reptilian, cold-blooded side of himself sensed trouble in paradise, and it was difficult to resist the opportunity. So what if Seth and Priya were well matched? Seth had chosen Priya because Calvin had dragged his feet and hid his dynamic from the world—much like a coward.

He’d missed his chance.

Instead of snaking his way in, Calvin needed to be a good and loyal friend. He had to be supportive and make an effort to like the girlfriend. He was proud of himself for actually meaning that, too.

He meant it right up until Saturday night.

“Pass the butter, please, babe?’ Priya’s voice sounded much more feminine when she wasn’t herding cats at work, but a hidden edge lurked around her consonants.

“Of course.” Seth said. However, it was Calvin nearest to the butter dish, so he reached for it at the same time as his friend. There fingers brushed, lingered, and were snatched away beneath Priya’s gaze.

Calvin swallowed, and tried to mask a shiver.

The butter was passed, but Priya's hardened eyes never strayed far from Calvin. He might have believed Seth hadn’t noticed if not the for never-ending stream of words that poured from his lips. Every time they shared a story from the “good old days”, or tossed anecdotes and witty one-liners back and forth with ease, Priya sat in tense, icy silence. She clearly hated the easy camaraderie they shared.

_She’s jealous_ , Calvin realized when he cleared the table. If she was so secure in her relationship, why was she worried?

Muffled voices echoed down the hall where the “happy couple” argued. Calvin tried not to smile. He found it a somewhat humorous; the tighter Priya seemed to cling, the closer to Calvin Seth became.

The sharp clicks of Priya’s high heels signaled her approach.

“Thank you for the lovely dinner, Calvin. I’ll see you at work next week.” She nodded imperiously.

Calvin raised an eyebrow. “Won’t you stay for a drink?”

She smiled thinly. “No, I think I’ve seen enough tonight.” Turning to look over her should, she called to Seth. “We’re leaving, babe. Grab your coat.”

Almost immediately, Seth slunk into view while pulling on his hoodie. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Calvin.”

Exhaling angrily, Priya snapped her fingers sharply. “Seth, _now_.” Without another word, she stalked out of the front door. She didn’t even look back, so assured that Seth would soon follow.

Calvin felt as though an iron bar had been rammed down his now rigid spine; his hackles raised.

Meekly, Seth shrugged his shoulders and gestured towards the door. “She hates it when I keep her waiting. See you.” Before walking out, Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, setting it on the counter near Calvin.

Suddenly, it wasn’t so funny anymore.

 

**Bet #5**

Work became Hell on Earth. There was no particular incident that Calvin could point his finger at and say “that’s why Priya’s a bitch”, but it quickly became apparent that she had it out for him. The way she treated Seth did nothing to keep Calvin’s teeth off edge, either. She called him like a dog and was displeased whenever Seth wasn’t quick enough to obey, or when he disagreed with her.

Calvin hesitated to say that loaded word “abuse” because there wasn’t any one thing, but there were just so many little…unpleasantries throughout each day. She was the worst kind of social attacker—passive and aggressive.

Regardless, it was all the opening Calvin needed to start picking and tearing at the seams of her so-called bond with Seth. It was for Seth’s own good, regardless of any feelings he might harbor for the man. Wasn’t it?

Over the course of three weeks, Calvin slowly, subtly drew Seth’s attention to the negative impact Priya had on his life. If he touched his friend more often, sat closer, trailed fingers down his arm, Calvin figured it was reward enough for a good deed.

A messy breakup was on the horizon, and Calvin looked forward to the storm. He and Seth could weather it together.

Except.

And damn did it seem like it was always “except” when it came to Priya. The vicious woman called Calvin to her office on a Friday, right before the workday’s end.

“Ah, Calvin, thank you for coming. Please take a seat.” She waved her hand to the empty chairs in front of her desk.

“Thanks, Priya.” He sat down, wary. “What’s going on?”

She smiled sharply. “Nothing to be nervous about. Actually, it’s quite the opportunity for you!”

Bucking his eyebrows together, Calvin looked at her skeptically. “An…opportunity?”

Her smile broadened, and Calvin likened it to a shark’s mouth in his mind. “Absolutely. Our Italy branch is opening a new factory just outside of Rome and need an experienced Industrial Designer to set up their modeling and specs department. I thought of you.”

“Me? I haven’t even been here a year.” There was a sinking feeling in his gut.

A strange, full-bodied twitch jolted Priya in her seat. “Don’t think I haven’t seen your potential. You’re perfectly qualified for the job, and—”

“—and you want me out of the picture.” He finished for her; he was always a gambler at heart, after all. Tired of beating around the bush month after month, Calvin looked Priya dead in the eye and admitted out loud what all three of them had been skirting around. It was time to call or fold.

Priya’s lips fell into a sour purse. “I had looked forward to that fringe benefit.”

“You know I can’t take a job I’m not qualified for, no matter how good your letter of recommendation might be. I’d screw up in the first month and get booted. Careers don’t recover from that. Plus, _Seth_. I’m not leaving just when things were starting to go my way.” Calvin shot her a smirk. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Yes,” she returned his look, “I can see that. It is clear how I must deal with you.”

Pasting on a mocking smile, Calvin gestured for her to continue.

Priya narrowed her eyes. “Leave this company, that apartment, and this town, and I will write you a glowing letter of recommendation for your next job, and every job after that who calls me. If you do not, I will fire you and explain to every recruiter that contacts me that you were inappropriate towards the other omegas in the office, including myself.”

The smile died on Calvin’s lips. “You can’t do that.”

“I can. I will. These days, nobody gets hired without a full history of universities attended, GPAs, and all prior work experience. They will want my letter and my phone number, and they’ll certainly wonder why you can’t provide those things.” Her lips quirk into a nasty smile. “As you said, careers don’t recover from that.”

“If you think threatening me will do you any good—”

“Of course not.” She cut him off. “I recognize your type. You won’t be beaten down, or bought. There’s only one thing you respond to.” Priya wet her lips. “I will do the same thing to _Seth_.”

A wave of cold spread down Calvin’s back. “You wouldn’t.”

“I don’t want to, but I will.”

A small, desperate laugh burst from Calvin’s throat. “You’re really doing the whole if-I-can’t-have-him-neither-can-you cliche?! That’s what you’re going with?”

She shrugged. “Something like that.”

“I’ll tell Seth. He’ll dump your crazy ass, and we’ll be out of here. We’ll find work regardless—there aren’t enough engineers to go around anyway.”

“Perhaps. But you’ll never advance, and _that_ is something Seth dreams of for himself. You could tell him. He may believe you, and perhaps he’d be alright with his new lot in life. He might not even blame you.” Leaning forward, Priya lowered her voice. “But you would blame yourself.”

Calvin grit his teeth. “Would I, then?”

“Yes, you would. Maybe not today, but years from now, you will look back on this very moment and know you had the power to stop this.”

Silence reigned for a long minute.

“Why would you do this? Why risk so much for an alpha who’s already preparing to end your relationship? He doesn’t love you.”

Priya softened. “But I love him.” The softness disappeared from her being as quickly as it flickered to life. “And I won’t lose him to some suppressant-addicted omega.”

Shocked, Calvin stared at her with eyes like saucers. Icy dread slowly crept into his veins. Softly, he asked, “…how did you know?”

With a roll of her eyes, Priya retorted, “I do have access to all personnel files.”

Silence.

There was nothing else to say. There was no argument that would sway her, and she was right about one thing. This would destroy Seth’s ambitions of running his own department in five years and a branch in ten. Calvin couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ let that happen. There was nothing he could do.

At least, not at the moment; not in her arena.

He slowly nodded. “Give me a month to get things in order. That letter better make it sound like I’m the second coming.”

As he stood up, Calvin shot her a dark look. “I bet you anything that you won’t end up with Seth anyway.”

Priya scoffed. “I like my odds.”

When he arrived home that night, Seth wasn’t there, and, according to the note on the fridge, wouldn’t be for the rest of the weekend. Priya’s, then, and just as well.

Calvin skipped his suppressant that night for the first time since he was fourteen years old, and set a timer on his phone; twenty four hours slowly ticked away in digital numbers.

He had work to do, and had to time it just right—stacking the deck in ones favor was no small task.

Saturday evening rolled around sooner than he would have liked.

In a soft, clingy t-shirt and form fitting jeans, Calvin drove to the seediest bar in the worst corner of the city. The place was dim, and lit colorfully by all the neon ads for alcohol. It was the type of bar the Alphas flocked to when they couldn’t keep a grip on their instincts well enough for polite society. It was a place that hosted the desperate, the criminal, and the depressed.

All Calvin had to do was slide onto a barstool and wait for his pheromones to start wafting around the joint. He was a rare specimen; very few people had ever continually taken suppressants for as long as Calvin had, and there was a particularly interesting side effect, among others. As soon as the individual stopped taking the suppressants, their scent glands worked overtime because the gland tended to work harder in an attempt to overpower the medication. Calvin had been taking his pills for years, and his pheromones were working up to be the thickest, most seductive scent in the state.

It didn’t take long for a strong and scarred-up alpha to try his luck. “What can I do to help a pretty little thing like you?”

Calvin smiled coyly. “You could settle a bet I have with an alpha.”

The man lowered his brows. “ _An_ alpha, or _your_ alpha?”

“If you play your cards right, _an_ alpha.”

Frowning, the man leaned back slightly. “I’m not lo—”

Leaning in, Calvin put his lips near the alpha’s ear and paused, to ensure a large dose of his pheromones was breathed in. “This alpha wants me, and claims to be stronger than any other suitor.” He moved away just enough to see that the alpha’s eyes had dilated. Calvin moved back in to whisper in his other ear. “She claims to be the best. I’m betting that’s not true. What do you think?”

A growl began to emanate from within the alpha’s chest. “ _She_? I think that’s bullshit. Someone like you,” he trailed a rough hand along Calvin’s inner thigh, “needs a _real_ alpha.”

Calvin smirked, staying close to the man’s nose so his amped pheromones could work their magic. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

After one wild weekend, Calvin won that bet with Priya by default. Dead bodies couldn’t collect, after all.

 

**+1 Losing Bet**

Six months after “the incident,” as Seth referred to it, life had settled back into the normal pre-Priya routine.

According to the newspaper article Calvin had saved, the woman had been killed outside her home by an enraged alpha who’d been high as a kite. Neighbors had reported that the man had been screaming about a mating dispute and had challenged her despite Priya’s exclamations that she was an omega. As best as anyone could figure, the scent of her alpha boyfriend, who’d been with her all that weekend, had clung to her clothing, confusing her attacker. The alpha had been arrested and tried for murder, of course. What kind of sick psycho attacked a defenseless omega, after all?

Seth had needed some time to get over her death, but he’d eventually gotten there. In fact, he hadn’t seemed all that broken up about it. The scent of omega in his apartment had probably helped—Calvin liked to think so, anyway. He sometimes wondered if Seth suspected what he’d done, but there was never a hint or an opening to warrant asking.

Calvin hadn’t even been on the police’s radar beyond being the roommate of the boyfriend of the deceased. Omega dynamics, Calvin decided, were finally good for something.

A finger snapped in front his face, jerking Calvin from his thoughts. “You in there? You zoned out and missed the big reveal. The gardener’s illegitimate son turned out to be innocent. He’s free to pursue the banker’s daughter now, though I think she’s still in love with Enrique’s long lost twin brother.”

Calvin blinked a few times. “Oh, yeah, I’m paying attention. That’s not a great idea. No way will that relationship go well.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “You say that about every relationship. Including all of mine!”

“Yeah, all one of yours.” Calvin scoffed. “I can’t imagine what scrape of a relationship you’ll get into next. I bet you a dollar it’s a total shitshow.”

“Bet you it isn’t. In fact, I bet you the next one sticks.”

“You’re on—”

Lips pressed against his own, silencing him.

When they broke apart, Calvin grinned and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He fished out that first crumpled dollar bill from all those years ago and pressed it into Seth’s open palm.


End file.
